Separator



E. C. HORST- SEPARATOR arch 25 1924;,

, Filed Jan. 28, 1920 lll Patented Mar. 25, 1924.

EMIL CLEMENS HORST, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFOBINIA.

SEPARATOR.

Application 'filed January 28,- 1920. Serial No. 354,724.

- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMIL CLEMnNs Hons'r, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city and count of. San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Improvement in Separators, ofwhich the.

following is a specification.

This invention relates to a separator and especially to a machine forseparating leaves, petals, etc., from hops and the like.

Picking of hops by machinery is resorted to at the present time inseveral of the larger ho growing districts and is becoming more an morea necessity, due to the scarcity of labor and troubles connectedtherewith. Hops picked in this manner contain a considerable .quantityof leaves, petals, stems and other foreign matter, the major portion ofwhich is removed by separators of various types. It happens, however,thatmost of the separators in use are not cap-able of thoroughlycleaning the hops, for instance, one type of separator may be fairlyefficient for removing leaves and petals, while another type may befairly eflicient for removing stems or similar material. It is,therefore, more or less common practice to subject the hops to two ormore separating operations before they are considered sufficiently cleanto bedried and baled.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a simple and easilyoperated separator which is capable of efiiciently removing both stems,leaves and petals, and which is so constructed that its capacity islargewhen compared with most separators in use today.

Alnother purpose of the present invention is to provide a separatorwhich presents two inclined planes or surfaces, one incline or surfacedown which the hops are permitted to roll during the separatingoperation and a second plane or surface for the reception and collectionof the material to be removed, the incline presented to the rolling hopsbeing comparatively steep and the inclines or surfaces for the removalof the leaves, stems, etc., being conversely comparatively flat.

The invention briefly stated involves an endless inclined beltconsisting of a pair of chains connected by a series of rods, said rodssupporting a series of overlapping slats over which the hops roll duringthe separating, operation and upon which the leaves and other materialto be removed is collected.

The invention also involves means for transmitting a continuousmovementto the belt, further means for removing the cleaned hops, and asecond means for removing the leaves, petals, etc.

The invention also consists of the. parts and the construction,combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more fully describedand claimed, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which-Fig. 1 is a plan view of the separator partly broken away.-

Fig. 2 is a side elevation partly broken away. I

Referring to the drawings in detail, A indicates a frame of suitableconstruction on which is mounted journal members 2. Extending throughthe journal members 2 are shafts 3, and secured at the opposite ends ofthe shafts are sprocket gears 4. There are two pair of sprocket gearsand each pair supports an endless chain 5. The chains 5 are spaced apartto form a belt of any desired width and they are connected by means of aseries of rods 6. Supported by each rod is a slat or plank 7, and topermit pivotal movement of each slat with relation to the supportingrod, a pivotal connection such as shown at 8 is provided. The slats 7are .The chains 5, connecting rods 6 and the slats 7 supported thereby,form what may be termed the separating belt. This belt is inclined asshown in Fig. 2 and in reality presents two inclined surfaces, onesurface being the general incline of the belt as shown by arrow a, andthe second incline being the surfaces presented by the respective slats7 as indicated by the arrow 6.

. The formation of the two separate inclines is of great importance asit permits a comparatively steep incline over which the hops roll duringthe separating operation, and conversely a considerably decreasedincline for the collection of the material to be removed.

The shafts 3 and the sprockets 4 are driven in any suitable manner, forinstance, by means of a pulley 10 and as it is driven in the directionof the arrow 0 it can be seen that the material collecting upon theinclines presented by the slats will be elevated and discharged on theconveyor 11 which may remove the material to any point desired.

In actual operation it must be realized that hops are comparativelyround and that the stems, petals, leaves and similar material presentmore or less flat surfaces. Uncleaned hops delivered by the conveyor 9and deposited on the upper endof the separating belt will, therefore,spread out over the several surfaces presented by the steplike slats,the round hops bouncing from one surface to another, or'in other wordsrolling down the general incline indicated by arrow a. The leaves,petals, etc., also deposited upon the step-like inclined surface of thebelt have a tendency to accumulate thereon, due to the considerablydecreased incline formed by the overlapping of the slats. Theythereforeadhere to the same and are carried upwardly with the belt andfinally deposited on the upper conveyor 11, the hops proper continuingtheir downward rolling and bouncing movement and finally discharged upona conveyor 12 which is continuously driven and which may .be extended toany point desired.

The pivotal mounting on the slats is of considerable importance as itfirst of all permits the formation of a step-like surface; secondly acomplete removal of material deposited thereon as they swing entirelyaround the supporting rods when reaching the upper end and thereforeassume a vertical position when travelling downwardly on the under sideof the belt as shown at 14. Leaves, petals, stems, etc., are thusthoroughly removed and clean surfaces are again presented when the slatsstart their upward travel. Thirdly, the formation of the step-likesurface forms, as previously stated,

- a series of inclined surfaces, the pitch of which is considerablyreduced when compared With the general incline of the belt.

This should be thoroughly appreciated as it permits the general inclinea to be set so steep that a much larger quantity of hops can be handled,due to the free discharge permitted on the steep incline. In otherwords, the general steep incline of the belt permits a free discharge ofthe hops and it does at the same time present surfaces of less inclinefor the collection of the material to be removed.

The capacity of a separator of this character can therefore, practicallyspeaking, be doubled when comparison is made with most standard types ofseparators, for. instance such as emp oyed an ordinary inclined con?tinuous belt. A cleaner product is therefore" at the same time obtainedas the leaves and, petals are not only removed, but also the" largerproportion of the stems and other objectionable material. It may also bewitnesses.

stated that it is unnecessary to subject the hops to two or morecleaning operations.

The conveyors 9, 11 and 12 may be driven in unison with the separatorbelt or independent thereof and if desired it should be obvious that theseparator belt may be placed directly in the hop picking machine in aposition where they will receive the hops as they drop from the pickingcylinders.

The slats 7 may be constructed of wood or any other suitable materialand may be covered with canvas or the like to present a roughened oradhesive surface for the leaves, petals, etc., to be collected thereon.Such features may, however, be operated as occasion may demand, and Ialso wish it understood that other changes may be resorted to within thescope of the appended claim, similarly that the materials and finish ofthe several parts employed may be such as the experience and judgment ofthe manufacturer may dictate or varying uses may demand.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is- I i An apparatus for separating hops from leaves,vines, stems, etc., comprising a pair of flexible endless link chains,said chains being separated and maintained in parallelism, an upper anda lower shaft, interspaced sprocket gears mounted on each shaft, saidsprocket gears supporting the chains, and the shafts being mounted oneabove the other to maintain the chains on an angle, interspacedcross-rods connecting the chains, a plurality of plates hinged at theirupper ends to the rods, each plate overlapping the next succeeding lowerplate and having such a thickness that the plates form successivestep-likesurfaces of less incline than the supporting chains, therebyallowing hops to roll down the offset faces, and simultaneouslypermitting leaves, stems, etc., to settle on the step-like faces, aconveyor belt disposed above the chains and the plates carried thereby,and adapted to deliver hops mixed with leaves, vines, stems, etc., tothe upper end of the separating belt, a conveying belt disposed behindthe separating belt and adjacent the upper end thereof to receiveleaves, vines, etc., and a conveyor belt disposed below the separatingbelt and adapted to receive hopswhich roll off the plates carried by theseparating belt.

- In'testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence oftwosubscribing .EMIL CLEMENS HORST.

Witnesses:

H. C. ,YANDLE, M. F. PACK.

